I think allot here are forgetting the CRAP ATi drivers....I KNOW - I to this day still have a X2 on my desk....an utterly crap card. It may not be the cards fault but the drivers....All i know is that in a game like EVE Online that i play allot i get HALF the fps as an GTS/512....
I will NEVER spend my money on an ATI card again before i see tests in not "common" games. And thats FINAL!

But sure - the new cards maybe isane - if they are i will try them. Like i did the X2. But right now i'm 98% sure i will be sorry.

If the HD 4870 turn out to be the fastest single GPU on the planet, I will own it. Otherwise, I am sticking with the GTX 280. By fastest, I don't mean winning 2 out of 18 game tests. I mean winning more than it loses @ 1920x and up with AA active.

Isn't the 4870 just a 4850 with GDDR5 and a higher core clock? Obviously the memory bandwidth is substantially higher but I've heard the 4870 is only 10-20% faster then the 4850. Any truth to this? Sad that all we're seeing is 4850 hype...

If the HD 4870 turn out to be the fastest single GPU on the planet, I will own it. Otherwise, I am sticking with the GTX 280. By fastest, I don't mean winning 2 out of 18 game tests. I mean winning more than it loses @ 1920x and up with AA active.

If those numbers are true then I might just go AMD this round. If a single 4870 is beating a GX2 in Crysis then it's certainly going to beat the 280. And a CF setup would be well worth $600 IMO. I'd need a new board but I just might do it for that.

The only thing that gives me pause on that idea is CUDA. I want CUDA apps. Those are a pretty big pull for me this gen. I'm on the fence because the performance of a single 280 is really more than enough for my needs at the resolutions I intend to play at plus I'd be getting incredible performance in CUDA apps. But, with AMD I might be getting the faster card for less, but no CUDA apps. What to do...?